Images of Empire, Empire of Images: A Visual History of the British Colonization in India

Course Description

This seminar examines the history and historiography of colonial India through visual culture. Beginning with the introduction of photography into British India and moving through anthropology, administration, travel, advertising, nationalism, and cinema, the course investigates how images participated in the production of colonial knowledge and power.

Students will explore how visual objects shape historical understanding and ask whether images reveal dimensions of the colonial past that textual archives alone cannot capture.

Assignments

• In-Class Presentation — 15%
• Book Review — 15%
• Weekly Discussion Posts — 20%
• Final Assignment — 50%

Course Themes

• Photography in Colonial India
• Visual Culture and Empire
• Anthropology, Caste, and Representation
• Colonial Administration and Policing
• Advertising and Public Culture
• Cartoons, Caricatures, and Nationalism
• Colonial Cinema and Moving Images

Syllabus

Full Syllabus

Weekly Topics

1. South Asia and its Visual Cultures
2. Photography in Colonial India
3. Colonial India in Photography
4. Images of Colonial Representation I: People
5. Images of Colonial Representation II: Spectacles
6. Images of Colonial Representation III: Bodies
7. Space of Empire I: Geography
8. Space of Empire II: Travel
9. Space of Empire III: Domestic Life
10. Space of Empire IV: Colonial Administration
11. Images in Public Cultures I: Advertisements
12. Images in Public Cultures II: Cartoons and Caricatures
13. Images in Public Cultures III: Nationalism and Resistance
14. Moving Images of Colonial India